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墨書 Inktalez
How to dig? Cui Ming fell into deep thought. Should he go through the Lion Dog? Or through the source of supplies? Neither seemed very reliable. Suddenly, Cui Ming's eyes lit up. Before the Competition Match, the Wandering Pit had used a manuscript of Void Power from the Fire Cult. The Fire Cult still had a copy and had been looking for scholars to study and translate the text. However, the lost civilization only had one diplomatic contact with Dawn City, leaving behind too few writings.
He could set up a trap, giving them a chance to decipher the text. Even if they couldn't blow up the mastermind, he could still lure a few Fire Cult Half-Beast practitioners. But how to pull this off? Even if he caught a fish, it might be a shark that he couldn't reel in. This was a grand plan that required careful consideration. Currently, it seemed that Wandering was quite eager regarding the Fire Cult practitioners, and the Ye Family was somewhat restless. These two groups could be allies.
Ye Wen watched as Cui Ming suddenly smiled sweetly at him, leaving him stunned.
Cui Ming didn’t notice and stood up to pace around. He then turned to the balcony, leaving Beiyue and Ye Wen behind, and began to construct his preliminary ideas in his mind. After a long while, Cui Ming returned and asked, “Ye Wen, if there’s an opportunity to quietly take out a few Fire Cult practitioners, what would the Ye Family do?”
Ye Wen was about to answer but immediately recalled Yellen's reminder to be cautious while chatting with Cui Ming. So he replied, “I’ve been quite busy lately. How about this: Ye Xin will be back the day after tomorrow; you can talk to her.”
That was too stiff. What do you mean by that? I’m not trying to set you up; at most, I just want you to take the blame. Cui Ming nodded, “Alright, we’ll stay for a few days.” He still needed time to consider his plans. How could he achieve his goals without putting his own people at risk? Cui Ming had no intention of making his friends targets for retaliation from the Fire Cult because of his plans. Now that he had a lead—the writings of the lost civilization—he also had henchmen: the Ye Family and Wandering. Wandering should be able to gather some manpower; dealing with a few visible Fire Cult practitioners would be sufficient. But the plan was still not ready… He needed to convince Ye Xin and present a preliminary plan.
He needed to think more.
Cui Ming enjoyed playing these kinds of games. It was fun and fulfilling. For example, when he calculated against witches and they appeared as he envisioned, that sense of satisfaction was truly wonderful. This time, even if he couldn’t trap the leader, being able to catch Lion Dog and their group would still be very gratifying.
Haha! Everyone has a demon and an angel within them; the demon says, let me out! I want to do bad things; I have plenty of wicked ideas. Cui Ming replied, I’ve been waiting for you; hurry up and give me some inspiration. The angel said: No, you must be a good person, an upright person. Cui Ming silenced the angel with a firm grip; this time it’s not your concern. To deal with bad people, unless you possess great strength, you must rely on someone worse than them.
In truth, Cui Ming’s nature was kind and upright; it was just that his little demon was rather mischievous…
When he truly began to think about his plan, Cui Ming found it incredibly difficult. The main issues were strength and influence. A city-state couldn’t compete with a larger city-state no matter how much it struggled. That was Cui Ming’s situation. Although he had many friends and brothers willing to take the blame for him, it was still challenging. Just like earlier when Cui Ming planned to trick the Fire Cult with Wandering; he could come up with theories and steps for the plan—even some details—but executing it was quite difficult. In contrast, Wandering had an easier time once they had a blueprint; he possessed resources from various aspects and had strength and influence.
After working late into the night, Cui Ming tossed all his drafts aside. This plan was too grand; there were too many blind spots. He couldn’t guarantee that any individual would react correctly; normally there would be backup plans for unexpected reactions from others, but he lacked control over all details and couldn’t manage everything meticulously alone. This wasn’t something one person could create or complete; it required a team—a staff team where everyone understood the overall plan and each person implemented a step or phase.
Cui Ming had no resources to continue with this grand scheme, so he wisely decided to abandon it. In this plan, Cui Ming intended to use Zhir to provide him with items inscribed with the writings of a lost civilization, then lure the Fire Cult Practitioners to Dawn City, causing one or two of them to mysteriously disappear. The leader of the Fire Cult would surely investigate the situation, and Cui Ming had considered how to extract information from the leader. However, he tore up the plan because he realized he could not control the various situations that might arise.
Abandoning this plan left him pondering where to find a new breakthrough.
The best breakthrough point: the Prophet.
Currently, the Fire Cult had not confirmed what had happened regarding their previous deception, and only the Prophet from Silent City could provide them with answers. Due to an agreement reached during the first Competition Match, the Prophet's bounty had been lifted, allowing free passage across the Three Continents. However, there were conditions: the Prophet must restrain the madmen of Silent City and provide information about any summoned Otherworldly Creatures appearing in the Three Continents. Of course, the Prophet could not overstep boundaries while in the Three Continents. The reason only the Prophet was involved was that he was granted the status of an envoy from Silent City.
The first step was to trick the Prophet into leaving Silent City.
The second step was to inform the Fire Cult about the Prophet's presence in the Three Continents.
The third step was to capture the leader first; if that proved impossible, capturing a few Fire Cult Practitioners would suffice.
Simplifying this grand plan into three steps made it much easier. How could he lure out the Prophet? The Prophet was most interested in Void Power. If Zhir was willing to help, it would be straightforward. For instance, they could create a disturbance in a sealed Mage's power; there was a connection between Mages and the Prophet, and he would not overlook any changes that might occur.
One possibility was sending an envoy; another was having the Prophet come personally. Since the Prophet possessed a pardon token and believed he had no enemies in the Three Continents at present, there was a 90% chance he would appear.
To lure out the Prophet required controlling his route. There were three routes: entering Dawn Desert from York Mountain Range, which was quite far; and two closer routes through Nordo City and Dawn City into Dawn Desert. Both routes shared a commonality—they required maritime shipping routes. Therefore, by arranging matters in this regard, they could ascertain when the Prophet would arrive at a certain city.
The second step involved notifying the Fire Cult. Liu Meier needed to make an impression; she was currently in Eastern Continent residing in West Lake City, primarily helping children in underdeveloped city-states in Northwestern Eastern Continent with their education. To show goodwill, the alliance had also sent three individuals to assist Liu Meier since establishing schools and hiring teachers required not just money but also manpower. One of them was Dina; communicating through her seemed promising as she had a decent relationship with Cui Ming. However, Dina belonged to Ding Family.
The second candidate assisting Liu Meier was another alliance volunteer named Annie. Annie was a friend of Balance Sect; although her performance during undercover missions had been poor, there remained room for improvement without requiring her to do too much. Most importantly, Annie was very familiar with Mi Xiaonan and could easily keep her in the dark about their plans.
The third step involved ensuring that once the Fire Cultists learned of the Prophet's appearance in Three Continents, they would likely take action since they also sought after manuscripts related to Void Power. However, both the scale of their actions and who would participate remained unknown. The leader might not come; instead, several ordinary practitioners might arrive under a skilled leader's guidance. If that were to happen, these plans would lose their value.
This step required careful control; if inferior practitioners arrived, it would be necessary for the Prophet to eliminate them and force the Fire Cult to dispatch elites. Yet timing remained tricky; the Prophet dared not overstep Zhir's controlled area and would communicate with Mages through special means as closely as possible without crossing boundaries. The key point remained with Zhir; Zhir could not release Mages while simultaneously needing to give them and the Prophet hope. However, providing hope equated to taking risks since Mages possessed not only extensive magical knowledge but also formidable strength as spiritual beings.
These three steps, aside from the second step involving Mi Xiaonan and Counter-espionage, carry risks of failure for the other two. The risks are not very high, but it is necessary to prepare backup plans to address various possibilities that may arise.
When the Fire Cultists were choosing a city, Cui Ming leaned towards Nordo City. With its advanced technology, Cui Ming did not believe that the Fire Cultists had not sent spies to steal this technology. Even if they hadn't, wouldn't they send people to familiarize themselves with the rapidly evolving technological developments? They certainly would. If the Fire Cultists wanted to keep a low profile, they would need help from the locals.
Cui Ming meticulously crafted details at every step, making various changes within those details and preparing different contingency plans. Though he had not slept all night, he was thoroughly engaged in his work.
It wasn't until noon that Cui Ming finally wrapped up. Beiyue looked at the densely scribbled papers filled with diagrams and asked, "Are you studying magic or genetics?"
Cui Ming took a sip of water, leaned back on the sofa, and closed his eyes for a moment of rest. "I think I've got most of the plans ready. Now everything is in place; we just need a favorable wind. I need to make a trip to Dawn Desert. If I can persuade Zhir, this plan will basically succeed; if not, then it's all for nothing."
Beiyue asked curiously, "What does this have to do with Zhir?"
Cui Ming replied, "Beiyue, do you want to know?" Explaining it was tiring.
"Of course I do."
Cui Ming straightened up, organized the papers into a neat arrangement, and began to explain. Beiyue listened for a full hour; the beginning was somewhat clear, but it became increasingly confusing towards the end. However, he grasped the general idea: Cui Ming wanted the Fire Cult Practitioner and the Prophet to meet in Dawn Desert so that he could take advantage of the situation. To achieve this, Cui Ming needed... to do many things.
Beiyue asked, "Are Ashen and Akali their names?"
"Yes," Cui Ming confirmed. "They have faith, and I greatly admire them for it. That's why I've left positions for them as death warriors to fulfill their beliefs. I believe that someone who sacrifices for their faith is doing something truly great." Cui Ming continued, "Of course, they may not necessarily need to make an appearance. You see this line? If these situations arise—this one, this one, or this one—they will have to die. Once all three conditions are met, there will be no way around it." (To be continued.)
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